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Monday, August 25, 2008

National Pro-Life Unions, says Obama Has Betrayed The Black Community

The infamous Day Garner has issued yet another polemical declaration, apparently Baracks position on Roe v Wade is traitorous and constitutes the support of a racial holocaust. She is reported to have told Lifenews.com that,“By kow-towing to the abortion industry Obama proves he is just another politician, as he purposely overlooks the fact that 63 percent of Planned Parenthood’s 860 clinics are in African-American communities.What both Planned Parenthood and Obama don’t realize is that we do not have to kill our children to have fruitful, successful lives. But it doesn't matter. Even though blacks compromise only 13% of the population, they make up over 36% of all abortions done in this country." The veracity of her statistics regarding the placement of planned parenthood clinics, as well as the number of African American women having abortions are irrefutable. Even though black women constitute a small percentage of women we are having the most abortions.

The problem is the conclusions that Gardner draws from these statistics. Simply because a planned parenthood centre is in a particular neighbourhood, does not make it more likely for a woman to have an abortion. First a woman must have her birth control fail, or engage in unprotected sex to become pregnant. She must then make the decision as to whether or not to have the baby, put the child up for adoption, or have an abortion. What this means is that a woman is actively deciding to walk into a centre. Those that work for planned parenthood do not troll the streets looking for pregnant women on which to perform an abortion. They do not tie women down and force them to submit to a procedure to which they are not desirous of. Too claim that positioning of the centres are a major factor in the decision making process, subverts the degree to which African American women are in possession of agency and autonomy. Does she believe that we are so easily swayed that merely upon seeing a clinic we would be persuaded to make a life altering decision like having an abortion? I do believe the woman has watched to many episodes of hot ghetto mess...Black women are more than capable of deciding for themselves whether they have the desire and the wherewithal to parent.

Gardners objective is to overturn Roe v Wade, and what she does not acknowledge is that this will not bring an end to abortion. What will happen is that women will resort to back alley abortions to rid themselves of a child they either do not want, or unable to financially support. In countries where abortions are illegal women have resortedto purchasing medicines to induce abortions that are potentially lethal. While professing her love for the black community what she is not considering are the thousands of women that will die if they are forced to utilize these unsafe methods. When you value the child that isn't born, and incapable of surviving without its maternal host over the life of the woman that is already existing and contributing to society you are essentially delivering a death sentence. It is not a question of if women will die; if Roe V Wade is ever overturned it is simply a question of how many.

Though Gardner identifies as someone who is pro-life, I find the same faults with her position as do with all of the other organizations that daily strive to eliminate the right of women to choose; she offers no counter solutions.

According to Andrea E Wilson and Melissa A. Hardy, "African American women have experienced higher rates of unemployment — twice the rates of white women through the 1980s and 1990s (Browne 1999). This suggests that white women have been able to find a job more quickly when they are searching for work and are less likely to lose a job once they are employed (Browne 1999). Consistent with this pattern at the individual level, African American women are most likely to have sporadic work patterns, shorter job tenure, and greater concentration in low-paying, unstable occupations (Dressel 1988; Gibson 1987; Hertz 1988). Living in areas of high unemployment or areas negatively affected by deindustrialization, having lower levels of education and skill, and having to deal with the negative effects of discrimination are among the hypothesized factors contributing to the concentration of African American women in less stable and lower-paying jobs "(Cancio, Evans & Maume 1996; England 1992; Holzer & Vroman 1992; Wilson 1987)

If a mother is poor, her child will be equally poor. If the aim is to support life perhaps it should begin with offering concrete solutions to lift black women out of poverty. Where are the organizing drives meant to create better labour opportunities for black women, support of black entrepreneurship, or increasing education funding? Where is the advocacy supporting national subsidized health care, and day care? How about paid maternity leave, or job sharing or flexible hours? The aforementioned are positive steps that would increase the likelihood of mothers choosing to keep their children. It is easy for a woman like Garner to suggest that abortion should be outlawed when it will not be her vainly searching in a kitchen for food to feed a hungry child. It will not be her that will be shamed by social services when food stamps are required. She will not be accused of being a bad mother simply because she is poor and unable to pay for groceries, the rent, and utilities out of a meagre paycheck. If the goal is to encourage women to have children the conditions that make that choice tenable need to be created. We cannot simply moralize from a distance about valuing life when daily through social neglect and apathy our behaviour displays the opposite.

Sources

Hardy, Melissa A, and Andrea E. Wilson. "Racial Disparities in Income Security for a Cohort of Aging American Women." Social Forces 80.4 (2002):1288-1289. www.projectmuse.com

8 comments:

Too claim that positioning of the centres are a major factor in the decision making process, subverts the degree to which African American women are in possession of agency and autonomy.

While is it true that nobody will have an abortion just because the service is available, the converse is not always true. Anti-abortion efforts extend far beyond seeking to make it illegal, and into making it simply unavailable. The underhanded tactics involved are numerous and creative, and the effect, when they're successful, is indistinguishable from making abortions in the affected area illegal.

I understand your point and am not trying to be contrarian, except to point out that the location of centers can, in fact, be a major part of the decision making process, most notably when they aren't located here. This is something pro-choice advocates must be aware of, as the determination and moral flexibility of these deluded zealots knows no bound.

Of course, the most simple way to tell just how pro-life a pro-lifer actually is, is to find out their position on the undeniably most effective means of stopping abortions known to humanity: quality education about and easy access to contraceptives. Almost without exception, they aren't very keen on that idea, which clearly shows that it isn't preventing abortions per se that they're really interested in.

To clarify, when I say "here," I didn't mean, "in this neighborhood," but rather, "within a half-days travel." That can already be nearly impossible to arrange if, say, you're poor and the sole care-taker for children you already have, but many areas of the US do not have an abortion provided even as close as that!

Hello Renee, thanks for the constant drop and the comments...For the future of America...let us wait what will happen after the election...the winner could tell what to do with the abortion policy..and we hope that it will always based on pro-life perspective....

Trying to even talk about this over at reddit is like going to a KKK meeting full of Black white supremacists! Where is Dave Chappelle when we need him?

It is not just here of course. But I run into this alot. Is there a rule that black people and white people cannot hate without dragging a race into it? Or a gender? Or waist size? Or a sexual preference? Or a penis length, or a vagina width?

What happened to the old days when you could just disagree, then say F*ck You and your mamma, and be done with it? LOL

I will probably catch it here just like I was unceremoniously booted out of a local Chapter of NOW, for being pro-life (and I hate that term because it implies that women who have had abortions or are pro-choice are anti-life)--and is the reason, despite some fair credentials, professionally and academically, I have never been able to land a lecturer position in any women's studies program.

But, on the black genocide argument--I beleive there is something to it. I blogged on it a couple times--if anyone is interested they can look it up from the google search box on the front page of my blog.

There is no doubt that Mary Sanger, the founder of Planned parenthood, was a racist and eugenicists. She also founded projects aimed at reducing birth rates in impoverished areas in the south as well as specifically targeting African-Americans.

Eugenics was a widespread belief and movement in the early part of the century--and was why Hitler's ethnic cleaning ideas did not initially seem all that shocking to people in Europe and the United states.

There is some evidence that Planned Parenthood--still has something of a racial agenda--I talk about that on the blog and will not go into details.

Now, we all know that black women have about three more times the abortions as white women. Is it racial or becaue many of these women are economically deprived?

I submit it is all mixed up. But, no matter how you feel about aborition laws--it is a tragedy for the black community that they are being decimated in this manner--which really is a genocide--but I guess some might argue a justified one--I am unwilling to go there.

Of course, I don't really think going back to laws prohibiting aboriton is a real great idea (besides it is never going to happen)--though I must admit I would support the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

The real issue is doing those things which create a society where women would not have to face this heart wrenching choice.

Becky, as you mention, it's all mixed up. The reality is that while black women (and Latinas) have more abortions than white women, stats show that they also have more pregnancies than white women, less access to birth control, less information about reproductive health, less money to support the children they already have, and so on.

So, while it is undeniable that the reproduction of WOC has historically been more about having us die out, that doesn't mean that it's so much of a reality now that we should go so far as overturning Roe v. Wade or dissolving Planned Parenthood.

Why don't we instead use our energy in educating these women about what their options are BEFORE THE PREGNANCY EVEN HAPPENS? I am still amazed at how many young, educated Latinas believe the hype that was indoctrinated in them. If people think abstinence-only education is a problem, you haven't seen the worst of it with what we get taught.

Intense Debate Comments

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I am the mother of two darling little boys that fill my life with hope. They have inspired me to help raise awareness of the issues that plague this little blue planet.
If you are looking for a blog that is all about how wonderful and rosy this world is, turn right because this space will not be for you. I am a committed humanist. I believe in the value of people over commodities. I believe in the human right to food, clothing, shelter, and education. I am pacifist, anti-racist, WOC. My truth may not be your truth, but I intend to speak it nonetheless.
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